DavidSt...look who isn't doing so well in PA.

Even the once mighty PASSHE system is starting to crumble. Mergers or shutters...yikes.

I'm pretty annoyed by this, being a PA resident. The state's pulled funding back for years, and Penn State has shoved its hand out there for far too long. A school like Cheyney would have been forced well over a decade ago to get its stuff together about merging or closing, but, because it's the old HBCU, it becomes a way too sensitive subject and preservation project. Nevermind it being less than a 15 minute drive to the largest, most successful, and still growing school in the system. Nope...the likes of Lock Haven (probably with either Mansfield, Bloomsburg, Clarion, or IUP), Slippery Rock (with Cal-PA), and Kutztown (with East Stroudsburg) will get sucked down, too. Because it's gotten that bad, and nobody could make a decision on any one of them to just stop operating. And that includes Penn State and many of its satellite campuses adding to the bloat.

(02-12-2017 12:19 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  DavidSt...look who isn't doing so well in PA.

Even the once mighty PASSHE system is starting to crumble. Mergers or shutters...yikes.

I'm pretty annoyed by this, being a PA resident. The state's pulled funding back for years, and Penn State has shoved its hand out there for far too long. A school like Cheyney would have been forced well over a decade ago to get its stuff together about merging or closing, but, because it's the old HBCU, it becomes a way too sensitive subject and preservation project. Nevermind it being less than a 15 minute drive to the largest, most successful, and still growing school in the system. Nope...the likes of Lock Haven (probably with either Mansfield, Bloomsburg, Clarion, or IUP), Slippery Rock (with Cal-PA), and Kutztown (with East Stroudsburg) will get sucked down, too. Because it's gotten that bad, and nobody could make a decision on any one of them to just stop operating. And that includes Penn State and many of its satellite campuses adding to the bloat.

I think some of these schools would do better if they were at D1. Many of those schools are well known schools, and merging them would be a shame. That is the reason why D2 schools are looking to move up to help bring the student body back up with school spirit. Imagine if those schools you listed get to play Penn. State, Pittsburgh, Villanova and Temple every year? The big name schools in the power conference are taken all the resource money that the other schools really need. Not everybody is cut out to go to a school like Penn. State. It is important to get students back into those schools which means give them more money, and cut back to the Penn. States and Pittsburghs of the worlds. Wisconsin got a spending cut from the state.

(02-12-2017 01:13 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  I think some of these schools would do better if they were at D1. Many of those schools are well known schools, and merging them would be a shame. That is the reason why D2 schools are looking to move up to help bring the student body back up with school spirit. Imagine if those schools you listed get to play Penn. State, Pittsburgh, Villanova and Temple every year? The big name schools in the power conference are taken all the resource money that the other schools really need. Not everybody is cut out to go to a school like Penn. State. It is important to get students back into those schools which means give them more money, and cut back to the Penn. States and Pittsburghs of the worlds. Wisconsin got a spending cut from the state.

It isn't even like that today. The politics and spite run deep in this region. And schools dodge each other whenever there's the chance the "bigger and better one" may be losing ground to the smaller guy.

Nobody is going to reach out to work with IUP. Penn State's the closest, and it's not like they even consistently work with the likes of Bucknell or St. Francis. Pitt doesn't work with anyone in the state other than Duquesne, and the Big 5 is the Big 5, with some getting along better than others with Penn State.

Like, if West Chester jumped up to D1, I'd wager anything Delaware would cut them off, and no way would Temple, Villanova, and other indulge them with games, either.

West Chester and maybe Caifornia-PA would do well with a DI varsity hockey team, but nothing else. New Jersey and Philly lack a public DI hockey school. West Chester needs a better arena to play in though. They are rivals with Delaware, URI, and Liberty in the highest ranking club league on the east coast (ESCHL) with Stony Brook and Rutgers. Syracuse and NYU are joining it next year.